When one of you wants to retire earlier
A worked example for a couple who plan to stop work at different times, and the questions both of you need to answer.
A worked example for a couple who plan to stop work at different times, and the questions both of you need to answer.
Research by NextWealth for Scottish Widows, published in September 2026, describes a woman with £1m invested whose husband attends every meeting with their adviser. He wants to retire at 57, and she can't see how the family can afford it. In many couples one partner leads the money conversations, and the other has the doubts.
Here is the arithmetic for a couple like that. Mark is 55 and wants to stop at 57. Jo is 52 and plans to work until 62. The household spends £4,000 a month after tax, and Jo takes home £2,500 a month.
From Mark's 57th birthday to Jo stopping at 62 is eight years. The household is £1,500 a month short, so savings and pensions have to find £144,000.
Mark reaches State Pension age at 67, two years after Jo stops. For those two years they need the full £4,000 a month: £96,000.
£240,000 has to come from savings and pensions before either State Pension starts, in today's money and before any growth or tax.
Mark's arrives at 67. Jo's arrives three years later, when she reaches 67.
Write down separately when you each want to stop and what you want the years after to look like, then compare.
The answer changes the tax you pay and what is left for the partner who stops later.
Find out what each pension pays to a surviving partner, and check the nominations on every pension.
Each of you can check your record and forecast for free on GOV.UK.
A plan for a couple holds both sets of numbers and both retirement dates. Come to the first meeting together, and ask for time with each of you on your own as well.
Which pension to draw from, and when, is a regulated advice question that Buzz is not authorised to answer. We can model the options side by side, so you can see what each does to the tax you pay and how long the money lasts. For a recommendation we can introduce you to Equity & General, who are authorised by the FCA.
No. Two or three days a week from 57 to 60 cuts the amount savings have to find, because the income arrives in the years when the household is drawing most. Run both versions in the free projection.
Then the household needs £4,000 a month from savings and pensions for ten years before Mark's State Pension, which is £480,000 before growth and tax. The extra £240,000 is Jo's take-home pay for the eight years she would have worked.
Yes. A Financial Plan for a couple models both incomes, both pensions and both dates, and the meetings are for both of you.
An hour with a planner on whether the Financial Plan suits your position.
A written plan: every year to age 100 with UK tax applied, each risk measured in years, and your next ninety days.